“The coppers,” Fletcher said at once.
Kane’s question drew Zaria’s attention away from the curiosities cabinet. She appeared to be particularly fascinated by it; rather than participating in the conversation, she’d spent much of the past several minutes glancing around Kane’s office as if looking for something. “What about members of the Royal Commission?” she said. “I’m sure they can come and go as often as they like without being questioned by security.”
Kane exhaled through his teeth, running through the members in his mind. Apart from Cubitt, he didn’t know any who might be interested in alchemology. Most were politicians or businessmen with few connections to the dark market, apart from infrequent purchases. It was possible the device had been intended as a publicity stunt, but what purpose would that serve? There were already more people visiting the Exhibition than London could handle. “No member of the commission would have a reason to do something like this. It undermines their entire goal.”
Fletcher grimaced. “Maybe, but I can’t see the coppers being involved. If that were the case, the inspector would already know about it. He wouldn’t have come to you for help in the first place.”
“Then what about an exhibitor?” Kane suggested. “Or a vendor?”
“Even they don’t have access after hours, now that the Exhibition is up and running.”
Damn it. He fell silent, racking his brain as he tried to consider who else might be a potential suspect.
“Going back to the Royal Commission,” Zaria said haltingly, almost like she hadn’t wanted to speak at all. Her spine was straight against the back of her chair, her fingers tapping a pattern in her lap. “You said none of the members would have a reason to do this, but what if that’s not true? What if there’s a rift among them that the public doesn’t know about? They’ve been working together for over a year—I’m sure they’ve run into a number of disagreements. Maybe someone is simply trying to cause problems, or maybe the devicedoeshave a purpose. Either way, only the commission would have both access to the Crystal Palaceandconnections to the dark market.”
Kane tried not to let the shock show on his face. Put that way, he had a difficult time coming up with an argument. If an alchemologist wasn’t directly responsible for sneaking the device into the Exhibition, there was always the possibility that one had been hired to create it. And who had the means to commission such a thing but someone wealthy?
“I think she might be right, Kane,” said Fletcher, rubbing the base of his skull. “It would also explain why Inspector Price doesn’t have any leads. Even if some members of the commission did suspect others, they’d never say it. They’d try to deal with it internally to avoid any bad press.”
That, too, aligned with what Cubitt had said. He’d been shocked to learn Kane knew about the existence of the Curator, claiming someone must have committed a breach of confidence. Obviouslythe commission had wanted to keep the pseudonym a secret. Kane gave a slow nod, fragments of a plan starting to fit together as he stared into the middle distance. He didn’t like that Zaria had been the one to come up with the theory, but he wasn’t so proud that he would refuse to act on it. “I suppose it does seem the most likely explanation. A pity we didn’t question Cubitt about it the other night.”
“So kidnap him again,” Zaria said, folding her arms over her chest. “That’s what you do, right?”
Kane ignored her acerbic tone. “He won’t fall for that twice. Besides, I’m sure he’s laying low now.”
“I can’t imagine he’d be useful regardless,” Fletcher put in—Kane had briefed him on the meeting with Cubitt on their walk back from the Exhibition. “He’s far from the most important person on the commission, and definitely won’t be highly trusted.”
Kane nodded in agreement. “The best way to sniff out a rift in the commission is to watch how they interact with one another. See who appears to be an outsider or dissident.”
“And just how do you plan on doing that?” Zaria said, her expression dubious. “I’d guess the members are rarely all in the same place at the same time. Unless you plan on infiltrating one of their Mansion House meetings.”
Kane reclined in his chair, letting one side of his mouth quirk up.
“Oh, hell no. You havegotto be kidding me.” She perched on the edge of her seat, silencing Fletcher with a glare when he opened his mouth to intervene. “Have you completely lost your mind? Did you forget that we’vemetseveral members of the commission? At least two of them think you’re Charles Fox’s apprentice, and Cubitt knows you’re the damned kingpin. No disguise will be good enough to negate that.”
“I’m quite aware, thank you. I have no intention of disguising myself.”
“They’ll recognize Zaria and me as well,” said Fletcher, picking up on Kane’s implication. “I mean, I was pretending to be a copper, so I doubt they paid me much attention, but it’s still risky.”
Zaria made a face. “I’d never get in there regardless. There aren’t any women on the commission.”
Kane waited until they had finished. “Rather than trying to guess my plan and listing all the reasons your imagined hypothetical wouldn’t work, why don’t you let me speak?”
Both turned to him—Zaria with continued skepticism, Fletcher with cautious hope.
“You’re forgetting that there’s someone else. Someone who knows about the theft and the primateria source. Someone nobody on the Royal Commission has seen before.”
Fletcher’s face tightened as he considered this, but Zaria’s eyes flew wide. “Absolutelynot.”
Kane didn’t react. “You don’t think he’d be willing?”
“I know he would, and that’s why I’m saying no. I’m not putting Jules in any more danger than I already have.”
“He’d hardly be in danger. Do you really think I’d trust him to get me the information I need? There are staff at Mansion House, you know, who I guarantee will cater the commission’s meetings. I get Master Zhao onto the staff, he gets me inside, and I’ll do most of the listening from there.”
Zaria’s expression was baleful. “Why don’t you simply pick a lock and get yourself inside?”
“Because that’s far riskier. I won’t know who or what is waiting on the other side. Not to mention that I don’t have access to a floor plan. This is themayor’shome we’re talking about, you realize.”
